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Summary: My Favortite movie by far
Review: Way better than Lord of the Rings. The battle sequences were suberb and stunning. I loved the fighting and plot. Tom Cruise was awesome in acting in this movie. It was also historicly accurate. So you can learn from this film. It was very educational. It deserves some academy awards. If you like movies like Gladiator you'd pamper yourself by coming to this movie
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Summary: The Moose Hole - Cruise's 'Last' Oscar Stand
Review: Warner Brothers can't catch a decent break, can they? For the last three years, the studio has had a mixed year based on the performance and public reaction of their films with the missteps outshining the successes. 2003 continues that trend with the poor reception of films like Gods & Generals, Dreamcatcher, Alex & Emma, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. But what makes this year all the more hurtful was the fact that studio was expected to have had a good year riding the Matrix sequels alone. After the mixed reaction Reloaded received in May, The Matrix Revolutions couldn't compete like it was expected too and failed to even break the $170 million mark the original film set in 1999. So with those thoughts in mind, what good can Warner Brother executives find in this year? Oscar potential. The studio's leading Oscar contender is Clint Eastwood's Mystic River but recently The Last Samurai has emerged to be heading for Oscar gold as well. The film's leading man, Tom Cruise, hopes this is true in order to redeem the failure of capturing a nomination last year with his role in the critically praise Minority Report. Whether Warner Brothers pushes more for this film or Eastwood's picture depends on Samurai's performance but what can be said is that this film will definitely be raising eye brows.The Last Samurai focuses on the journey of a man from the United States who is sent to Japan to help eradicate a rebellious force but learns more from his enemy then he ever imagined. Captain Woodrow Algren is no stranger to the field of battle. He has seen things that many can't even imagine. Things that he would gladly like to forget if he could. In the time after the Civil War, Captain Algren takes to the bottle like many generals in the 1870's America. With the Civil War now over, all that is left is the rebellious Indian tribes that have decreased in number rapidly and have been nearly suppressed. But the captain is surprised to be offered the position of training Japanese troops in destroying the last of the samurai warriors that have rebelled against the Emperor who has forced Western society on the nation of Japan. After he is captured by Katsumoto and his band of samurai warriors, Captain Algren learns that the rebel force is not as "savage" as was once thought. Eventually he comes to find the true meaning of honor, necessity, and remembrance of where one comes from by joining Katsumoto in preserving the samurai way of life. The story for The Last Samurai is quite possibly one of the best scripts of the year. The feature successfully mixes historical context of post-Civil War events and Japanese traditions & philosophies. The great thing about The Last Samurai is that it does such a wonderful job at presenting an insightful historically epic drama that has become increasingly hard to find in the big budget world of movies lately. Though only one member of the cast is a big name star in the United States, the surprising thing about this film is the way the background characters are able to express so much without saying almost anything at all throughout the nearly three hour timeframe. Tom Cruise gives what is, quite possibly, his best performance in years, even better then his role in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report last summer. Cruise showcases a tremendous amount of determination and emotion in his actions as Captain Woodrow Algren especially as his character slowly learns the ways of the samurai. Ken Watanabe, who portrays Katsumoto, does as good of a job as he can with the English material he is given but what was more interesting was the way he performed during the intense fight sequences. The only performance that drew some criticism was Koyuki's role as the widow wife Yaka. The problem was that she was focused on for a small portion of the film but the audience doesn't really get to see her full range of emotional acting within the course of the feature. Overall, The Last Samurai is one of those rare theatrical gems that not only presents breath taking action sequences but intellectual statements that teaches the audience to expand their minds about the world. Despite the three hour time length of the feature, Samurai manages its time pretty well though it did tend to slow down in certain areas where shouldn't have. Many of the concepts about necessity and ancestry brought up in the film expand on what had been presented in the two Matrix sequels earlier this year. The way of the samurai is to stick to traditions and not modernize the way the people had been living for many years but as Katsumoto comes to realize by the end, modernization, in one form or another, is inevitable. Modernization can be integrated into an already existing culture but not so much that the traditions and practices of the society's ancestors are completely forgotten. The film explores many different levels of philosophy that they have to be seen in the film itself to be fully understood. The Last Samurai is definitely the best film of the year so far, though The Return of the King is closely around the corner, and should be greatly considered by Academy of Motion Pictures for its brilliant achievements.
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Summary: Don't miss this great movie!
Review: I've already seen this movie twice, and I think this movie is just great. When I first saw this movie, I had some problems with the story of this movie. As a Japanese, I couldn't stand the fact that this movie isn't based on real history of Japan or the way Samurai(Bushi) were in Meiji era. To be honest, I was very disappointed because I'd been expecting something totally different from this! However, I still thought the acting, the art, the music and the action of this movie was really good, so I decied to go see this movie again. For this time, I just forgot about my knowledge of Japanese history and concentrated on the movie itself from the beginning to the end. I just enjoyed it so much. Now, all I can say is that the movie is just great, and it's such a beautifully filmed movie that you can appreciate every single moment in it. I realized that it doesn't really matter whether it's based on true history or not, because the content of this movie is great. I think this movie is based on fantasy of Samurai that the director has in his mind. The fantasy of Samurai might be something also most Western people have in their minds, and I'm sure Japanese people have it, an ideal Bushi-Do. This movie illustrates Bushi-Do really well, the true Bushi-Do which really exsisted that way. Even though Samurai didn't extinct like that in the history, this movie illustrates very well how Bushi-Do had become unnecessary in modernized country and what extincted is the soul of Samurai and Bushi-Do which are represented by Katsumoto and other Samurais. I appreciate the people, who created this wonderful film and respect all the efforts they made for this. This is just amazing! Go and see this movie, it's really worth seeing on big screen!!
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Summary: Spectacular!
Review: I went to see this movie not expecting much. I thought perhaps the trailer was going to be better than the movie itself. But this was not the case. The Last Samurai quickly drew me into the movie and kept me wondering what was going to happen in the end. I would consider this movie a drama with a lot of fighting -- mostly in the last half of the movie. Wonderful acting from Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. The character of Algren is such a departure from how we usually see Tom Cruise that I kept on forgetting that it WAS him. (Though he's been in many good movies, I don't expect much of Tom Cruise's acting. He's got the same tone and mannerisms in all of his movies I've seen yet.) If you can tolerate some blood splattering, as this movie tried to depict to some degree that fighting is not so glorious, I would highly recommend this movie to any adult or young adult.
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Summary: Honor, loyalty & living every breath
Review: I just got back from seeing The Last Samurai and couldn't wait to share my thoughts. I won't recap the story as that's been done already but will try to capture the impact it had on me. The concepts of honor & loyalty in Samurai are extremely powerful, especially when shown opposite American/Western ideologies which focus on power & money. I'm not saying that our philosophies are wrong and Japanese are right but I did find a lot to think about in relation to my life and how these principals are carried out. Finding a balance between them would be the best goal. One critic said that Samurai doesn't engage emotions the way Gladiator did. I totally disagree. I never connected with the characters in Gladiator the way I did with this film. In fact, Gladiator left me a little cold. Samurai, on the other hand, left me with lots of emotions - sadness, satisfaction, & respect, for example. I went to the movie because my boyfriend wanted to see it and ended up liking it almost more than he did. I plan on seeing it at least 1 more time in order to better grasp some of the more subtle ideas.
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Summary: Not a good copy of "braveheart"
Review: I like Tom Cruise, but I was kind of disappointed. It's an entertaining movie, but don't try to compare it to classical ones (7 Samurais, braveheart...). The story is unrealistic and box office oriented. Good job in cinematography and fight scenes.
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Summary: The Last Samurai
Review: The story:
Tom Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a Civil War Captain, haunted by memories of Custer's raid, who is hired to train the Japanese army the western way with artillery to fight in combat against the samurai. But one day in battle, he is wounded and captured by the enemy. The strength and determination Algren shows in defending himself against the samurai fascinates the leader of the samurai, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe). Katsumoto begins speaking with Algren and learning more about him, and Algren finds himself slowly learning the way of the samurai and adopting the lifestyle of the villagers around him. As the story unfolds, he begins turning more and more into a samurai and eventually winds up fighting for them. The lowdown:
Edward Zwick, who made "Glory" directs this film with the eye of an artist. The entertaining film moves at a brisk pace, and it is always fascinating to watch Algren's character change as he sees another world in a village perched high on a mountain in supposedly "enemy" territory. The film's beautiful colors and long shots, brought to life by the great John Toll (Thin Red Line), takes us to a world of another day. The other highlight is the score by Hans Zimmer, one of my favorite composers (Black Hawk Down, Thin Red Line, etc.) These two technical aspects help the film a great deal, and help draw us into the conflicting worlds of old Japan and new Japan; the artillery and the samurai sword. The vivid imagery brings to mind the great films of Kurosawa; the heavy rain dripping down a thatched roof or two men practicing a duel on a field high on a mountain reminds us of "Seven Samurai;" the long shots of samurai colors and soldiers resembles "Kagemusha" and "Ran." Tom Cruise does a fine job in the role of Algren, though I think another actor would have been more fitting, as Cruise is more of a modern and contemporary actor. Even his voice is just too modern to be thrown into the late 1800s. But still, he makes his character convincing. The Japanese actors, especially Watanabe help the film a lot.
With that said, this is a very good movie, but not a great one. The film panders to clichés and Hollywood formulas too much at times, and the script is nearly not as deep as the visuals. At times, Zwick seems to walk the thin line between being an artist and a hack. The characters and dialogue are adequate, but not profound or heavily insightful like "Lawrence of Arabia" (an unfair comparison for any movie) or even recently "Master and Commander." I mention these two films, because these are both grand epics that are as focused on their characters and conflicts as they are with action and battle scenes. Deep character development is key in a story like this, because there are many conflicts within: A man searching for identity, a battle between an old and new world, a battle between cultures. The film does not delve deeply enough into these matters, but it is still entertaining and at times even thought-provoking. The battle scenes are well staged, but those who have seen a Kurosawa movie, specifically "Seven Samurai," "Kagemusha," or "Ran," probably might start thinking of those films upon watching this. One can't help but think as grand and spectacular Kurosawa's colors and battle scenes were, there lay a heart, a soul, a deep meaning about life and people behind those epic canvas shots of war and blood. There was a message about life in all of Kurosawa's films, and here a rather straightforward story is told in a clear-cut manner.
There are quiet, reflective, and beautiful moments, such as Algren journaling his thoughts as he observes the Japanese village around him, or Algren adopting the way of the samurai. And as I said before, all these scenes are fueled by great cinematography by John Toll and powerful music by Hans Zimmer.
This is a flawed epic, but not a mess like last year's much anticipated "Gangs of New York." "The Last Samurai" scratches the surface of the many great samurai films and Kurosawa's depth and is not as multi-layered as it should be, but there is enough fighting and entertainment to keep mainstream audiences content. Nevertheless, the film is beautiful to look at, entertaining, well-done, and as I said before, has an amazing soundtrack (see my review of the soundtrack). This is definitely miles ahead of a lot of garbage released these days and is highly recommended.
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Summary: To Die for Honor
Review: The notion of Honor is as far removed from our current everyday existence than the idea of a beleaguered Civil War Colonel (Tom Cruise) going to Japan in 1876 to train the Emperor's Army in the new way of fighting an enemy: that is with guns and cannons and without swords.
In these modern times, we have put ideals like Honor, Obedience to a Code of Ethics and Allegiance to an Ideal in little boxes and placed them on a shelf along with our copies of Lincoln's speeches and Aristotle's 'Poetics.' They are available but unread.
In the world of 'The Last Samurai,' we see an honorable though innocent world in which a man's word is his badge of honor and to break it is tantamount to death.
Nathan Algren (Cruise) is a defeated man, both in spirit and in health: he has committed untold atrocities in the name of the Union Army which haunt him so much that gallons of whiskey do little to quell the pain. Cruise plays Algren with a heretofore untapped (except maybe in 'The Fourth of July') reservoir of pain and inner fire. Cruise is so much of a contemporary man that he usually has trouble making anything other than that believable. But here he is simply magnificent: psychically conflicted, physically stooped over by, not only his consumption of alcohol but by unresolved pain and guilt: his Algren has an inner life consumed by self disgust and revulsion that director Edward Zwick shows us in flashbacks of such power that they invoke horror in our hearts.
Algren is captured by a group of contra Samurai, trying to hold onto their ideal world and while being held captive, learns the ways of the Samurai that he eventually adopts as superior to what he has experienced in his life up to this point. His chief captor, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe) is fascinated by Algren and his reputation as a first class soldier, but in the end it is Algren that learns more from Katsumoto than vice versa. Algren experiences a world with the Samurai that he knows is doomed, because of and despite its adherence to a code of ethics based on human and humane principles that he recalls from his life in the U.S. before the Civil War. And in many ways this break from the feudal to the modern in Japan is very much like our break, after the Civil War from an agrarian society to an urban based modern one: from the innocent to the worldly, from keeping things outside our borders to inviting them in.
As a whole, 'The Last Samurai' is breathtaking to watch but the scenes of hand-to-hand combat are thrilling: gruesome yet beautiful. And the last charge of the last battle of the film works, not only on the level of an unmatched fight between the old guard (the Samurai) and the new (an army outfitted with rifles) but on the cosmic level as a symbol of the last dying hope of an honorable world in a last desperate gasp of a conflict with the new, modern world, hell bent on proving its superiority yet obviously lacking in moral fiber and resolve.
'The Last Samurai' gives us a glimpse into the feudal yet honorable world of the Samurai: a world in which a man was judged by his character, his love of family and friends and his good deeds and not by his bank account or the size of his stock portfolio. And shamefully, it is a world we will never see the likes of again.
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Summary: Deeply moving, but with a fantasy ending.
Review: The Last Sammurai was deeply moving and beautifully executed. The sword fights were amazing, the peach blossoms beautiful. The ending was a total fantasy however. The tragic sacrifice for bushido that should have ended in the samurai's last charge was diluted by a Hollywood ending that has no connection with reality. The samurai way is to accept reality as it is, or so I understand. The sugar coated ending is a total violation of that. Money was at the bottom of it. Modern audiences dislike tragedy and deep feeling, preferring the usual Hollywood fluff. Even with the sugary ending that perhaps should have been reality but never was, the movie still deeply affected me. I will try to live life in every breath.
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Summary: entertaining but its not history
Review: The Last Samurai proves to be a very entertaining movie although I thought it was bit too long for the story. Tom Cruise does a good job protraying a guilt-ridden American warrior who was reborn as samurai warrior. It probably helped that his co-star Ken Watanabe proves to be a superior actor and he probably pushed Cruise to the higher level of acting once they began to shared scenes together. On the whole, the movie will worked for most people watching it because it gives a very idealistic look at the Japanese samurai culture at its best. However, most of it proves to be pure historical fantasy at its best. You should never considered that this was the way it was back in Japan of 1876. Outdated armor and thinking are not the way of the Samurai. Samurai, like all warrior types, adjust and adapt to changing warfare. Anyone who even know a thing about the warring period of 1540 to 1615 understand that samurai went from bow and arrow to firearms proficiently very quickly. Where the movie take a major misstep is that while the spirit and teaching of the samurai is tradition based, fighting modes are not. But this is a Hollywood movie made for American taste and perception. This is how many Americans see the samurai warriors of the old and just the way the many foreigners see American history as one of wars between cowboys and Indians or black folks tipping their hats to the white folks, this movie catered to best of the sternotypes. There is nothing truly historical about this film. The movie was made in the same mode as Mel Gibson's Patriot and Braveheart, all entertainment but no history. Now this movie have been compared with Dances with Wolves and there seem to be some justice to that comparsion. Both shows how a lone white man surrounded by an alien culture, "went native" so to speak and aligned himself with that culture. Both movies introduced these alien cultures through that white man's perception and his inevitable acceptance and entrance to that culture. In both cases, this was well done and it serves the viewers well.
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